Rocks and Fish
by LadyZelthePen
Summary: Hiccup wants to propose to Astrid, Toothless isn't helping, and Stoick just tries to be supportive. One-shot, complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Gah! I know I'm supposed to be working on other projects right now, but I saw How To Train Your Dragon 2 this morning with my younger sisters (all four of 'em!), AND IT WAS AMAZING! If you haven't seen it yet, you have to. Shoo.**

**So, when we got back home, we all had a contest of who could write the best story of how Hiccup actually proposed to Astrid. Anyway, we all had a blast with it, and this is my meager contribution to the famous fandom and the Hiccstrid ship. **

**Sorry if anyone seems too OOC; I was trying really hard to make sure everyone turned out right. I'm not too sure about my interpretation of Astrid quite yet... What do y'all think? **

**And, I don't own anything here except the idea. :D **

* * *

"Oh, the gods hate me," Hiccup muttered, tossing away yet another splinter of wood. Beside him, Toothless cracked an eye open to study the youth. Hiccup sighed and stared down at the black-scaled dragon. "Toothless, what am I going to do?"

Toothless rumbled in reply, and Hiccup rolled his eyes. "You're a big help, buddy. Thanks." Resting his arms on his knees, he studied the small dagger in his hand. "This is a big step, you know. You could be a little more supportive." A black snout nudged his arm, and he chuckled, rubbing the spot right between his dragon's eyes.

Hiccup stood up and did his best Stoic-the-Vast impression. "Dad would say something like, 'you're just overthinking all of this; just do it the way I did it when I was your age!'" He stopped and looked to Toothless. "Yeah, sorry Dad, but I don't think giving Astrid a rock and a basket of fish is really going to win her over."

Toothless laughed, or the dragon-equivalent of a laugh, and fell backward into a bed of ferns. Hiccup glared for a second and then picked up a tiny pebble, tossing it at his friend's unprotected belly. "And I repeat, you could be a little more supportive about all of this!" He ran one hand through his unkempt hair and groaned. "You'd think this would be something really easy; I mean, it's one question! 'Astrid, will you marry me?' You'd think I could manage that, but…." He trailed off, looking up toward the darkening sky. "Oh, Dad is going to kill me if I'm out late again."

The Night Fury straightened out and stilled while Hiccup climbed on his back and settled in the saddle. "Come on, buddy, let's get home."

Sneaking into the village of Berk used to be easy, but that was because Hiccup had once upon a time been a living dragon toothpick. And that was also before he had picked up the rather large Night Fury. Now, it was a miracle if he could even get within a mile of the village without being spotted.

Hiccup groaned as Vikings throughout the village turned their gazes upward to wave and shout hellos to the pair. Needless to say, Stoic the Vast was aware of his son's return minutes before Toothless landing in the center of Berk and the young man climbed off.

"Son!" Stoic called, waving once.

Hiccup froze, one hand still resting on the saddle, and groaned. Toothless rumbled. "H-hi, Dad. How's it going?"

"Couldn't be better!" the large man boomed, slapping Hiccup on the back and causing the youth to stumble forward. Stoic steered his son toward the main hall of the village. "The dragon training today has been quite a success; Astrid is a gifted teacher. And, she seems to have disappeared about the same time as you did. So! How did it go?" Stoic pushed upon the heavy doors upon asking the final question, and Hiccup grimaced as he was faced with what appeared to be almost the entire Viking community there on Berk.

A great cheer rose up when the crowd spotted the chief and his son. Hiccup spotted Gobber sitting at one of the front tables with Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and…Astrid.

"Um, Dad, can I talk to you for a second? Privately?" Hiccup clasped his hands together and then let go, swinging them by his sides.

"Of course, son." Stoic followed him a little ways from the great doors, left conveniently open, and then stopped.

"About today…" Hiccup glanced back at the long building, hoping no one was standing just out of sight by the doors to eavesdrop. "I haven't actually asked her yet."

"Why not, son?"

"Well, the thing is…" Hiccup sighed. "I'm not really sure how to go about it, you know? I want it to be really special, and… I'm kind of out of ideas."

"You're out of ideas." Stoic's face turned downward in what Hiccup knew was the beginning of a frown. And then, surprisingly, he started to laugh. "Oh, Hiccup, if there's anyone who can come up with a unique proposal, it's you! Why, when I was your age, I-"

"Dad, no offense, but I'm really not interested in giving Astrid a rock and some fish as a pre-proposal gift."

"That's not what I was going to say, son." Stoic put a hand on his son's shoulder. "When I first proposed to your mother, I wanted to make it special. Sure, I gave her a rock and some fish, but what really mattered was that I told her how I felt. You have to speak from your heart, Hiccup. You love Astrid, and I know she loves you. That's all that matters."

Hiccup smiled. "Thanks Dad."

Stoic nodded, looking back toward the hall doors. "Now, how about we get some dinner?"

* * *

There were times Hiccup was truly amazed by his father (well, that was most of the time). By the time the last Viking left the main hall, Hiccup had not been approached once with any questions regarding the proposal he was supposed to make earlier that day. Even though he knew it was the burning question on everyone's mind, Stoic must have done something to keep them all from asking. He was thankful, really he was. Astrid had stayed late, later than usual, perusing through the old dragon manuals for teaching tips for the next day.

Hiccup for the most part had been content to sit two tables away and watch her. When he'd first laid eyes on Astrid when he was nine and she was eight, he'd been smitten. Now, watching her in the fading firelight from the great hearth, he was falling all over again.

"You know, if you could channel that energy from watching me into actually helping me with these lessons, I'd be getting done a lot faster."

Hiccup shook his head as his chin slipped off his hand. Astrid smirked, plopping the stack of manuals down next to his elbow.

"Well, I guess since you asked so nicely," he quipped, and she smiled while settling down extremely close to him.

"So…" Astrid said after several minutes of silence, filled only by the scratching of Hiccup's pencil as he took notes she wouldn't even use later and the dying crackle of the fire behind them. "You're up to something."

"I am?" He fumbled with the pencil, a black mark stretching across the blank page in his journal. "What do you mean? I couldn't possibly-"

"Hiccup, come on! You are always up to something. I want to know what it is." Astrid punched his shoulder lightly, and he still ended up rubbing it. "And if you don't start talking now, I'll have to use conventional methods to get it out of you."

He swallowed, recognizing the glint in her baby blue eyes as sheer determination and lighthearted amusement. "Oh, you are playing a dangerous game, madame! I will not be coerced in such a way to reveal my secrets. Nothing you can do will make me tell you!"

"Alright then…" She wiggled her fingers, grinning. Before he could react, Astrid had attacked his open side. Hiccup jerked back with a laugh.

"Astrid, stop!" Hiccup gasped in between bouts of laughter.

Her grin widened. "Surrender!"

"Never!" Hiccup scooted away from her and unfortunately right off the end of the bench. He landed on the floor with an 'oomph'. The lack of a subject to torture caused her momentum to send Astrid tumbling over as well, and (not for the first time), she completely blew Hiccup's breath away.

Nose to nose and eye to eye, they stared at each other before Hiccup pushed up on one elbow and caught her lips in a kiss. Astrid's eyes widened and she failed to respond before the man underneath her was pulling away.

"Astrid?"

"Yeah?" she whispered, tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear.

"Will you marry me?"

She laughed and leaned down to kiss him on the nose. "Of course, you big goofball."

Hiccup blew out a long breath. "Oh good… I was getting worried I was going to have to resort to rocks and fish, or something."

Astrid backed up, and Hiccup sat up. "What?"

He laughed, taking her hand. "It's a long story. But, Astrid?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, you know that?"

Her eyes softened and she looped an arm around his shoulders. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

Stoic found them in the morning, leaned up against one another in front of the hearth with the dragon manuals and notebooks discarded on the table behind them. Smiling, he went about his morning duties.

"Rocks and fish indeed," he muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

**I really couldn't help myself... I had to know the official story behind the rock and the fish in the previous chapter, and my little imagination wouldn't quit thinking about it. I really wanted to include something with Hiccup and Valka, so this was born. **

**Thanks so much to everyone who has favorite and reviewed this story! I really appreciate every one of you! ^_^**

* * *

"Ah, that was a good one, Gobber. I'll, uh, see you in the morning." Before the large man could say another word, Hiccup slammed the door shut and leaned against it with a sigh.

From her seat on the hearth, Valka chuckled. "There's not much privacy for a chief, Hiccup," she reminded him with a gentle smile.

"Tell me about it." He ran a hand through his hair, glancing upward as the ceiling rattled from Toothless getting comfortable in his room.

Valka stood and came over to her son, lightly running her fingers through his hair. "Your village loves you, Hiccup. You're already a chief to be proud of."

"Thanks, Mom." He shrugged once, and she smiled. "Say…. I've got a question for you. About Astrid."

"Oh?" Valka looked over her shoulder at him as she took her seat again on the stool by the hearth and picked up a half-full tankard to take a sip.

"Well, it's kind of complicated. I mean, she and I have been technically engaged for eight months, and now that winter is coming, we've decided to wait until spring for the wedding. Anyway, when I first asked her to marry me, Dad was trying to give me some tips. You know, from when he asked you."

The tankard nearly slipped from her hand as Valka coughed, one hand pounding against her chest while her other set the tankard down on the table next to her.

"Mom, are you okay?" Hiccup crossed the room in three strides and placed a hand on her shoulder. Valka looked up at him with watery eyes and nodded.

"Fine, just fine." She coughed once more and wiped her eyes. "Tell me, what did your father say about…that day?"

"Well, he mentioned he gave you a rock."

"And a basket of fish, yes." Valka smiled, her eyes growing distant. "Stoic was a strange lad back in the day. Of course, he was the chief's son, so he had countless girls around Berk nearly throwing themselves at his feet!"

Hiccup took a seat on the floor just next to his mother, his back up against the rough stone of the hearth. Looking up into her face was like seeing her young again; she hadn't smiled much since returning to Berk.

"Well, your father had taken to stalking me around the village; of course he wouldn't say what he was really doing, but I had an idea that he fancied me. It carried on for weeks and weeks, until I finally approached him about it. He was embarrassed and stuttered like a fool, and then he gave me a rock."

From underneath her leather jerkin, Valka drew out a thick cord. Hanging from it was a smooth pebble with a hole in the center. She held it out to Hiccup, and he took it in one hand. "This is the rock he handed me. I didn't know what to do with it!"

Drawing it away, Valka loving touched the edge of the stone. "Stoic was a quick thinker, even then, and he stated his intentions. 'Valka, I want to marry you.' I was only sixteen at the time, and he was nineteen, but he was the most handsome man I'd ever laid eyes on. And no, it wasn't because he was the chief's son."

She nudged her son's shoulder while he laughed. After a moment, they sobered. "So, what did the rock mean? 'Cause knowing Dad, he came up with something."

Valka chuckled, letting the stone rest against her chest. "He told me it represented his strength; he would never let anything happen to me. I had to counter his offer by piercing a hole in it, but…"

Hiccup nodded, watching her face take on a reminiscent look again. "And the fish?" he prompted after a few moments.

"Oh!" She shook herself as if to clear away the old memories. "He personally went to the docks and fished the whole night just to prove he could provide for me. As thick as your father was, he could be quite a romantic."

The two shared another laugh, and then Hiccup grew quiet. Valka reached over and hooked her finger under her son's chin, tilting his face up to look at her. "What are you thinking, Hiccup?"

He grinned unexpectedly. "Wonder if it's too late to give Astrid her very own rock and basket of fish?"


End file.
